University of Bath student David Liptrot has won a prestigious national award for significant research he completed during a placement with leading pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca at Charnwood in Leicestershire.
David, who is in his final year of study for a Chemistry degree, was presented with the ‘Placement Student of the Year’ award by national company RateMyPlacement.co.uk at a presentation ceremony in London this week.
He impressed judges with work he completed in the medical chemistry department of AstraZeneca Charnwood, conducting synthetic research to improve the access to compounds of potential therapeutic interest.
David said: “Finding new drugs is often very time consuming and can cost a great deal of money. The research I did at AstraZeneca involved looking at very small compounds that make up drugs, and finding ways to improve how quickly and how many of these compounds are created.
“This allows faster and more drug screening, so effectively increases the number of potential drugs that can then be studied and reduces the time taken and the overall cost of producing new medicines.”
Steve Roser, senior lecturer and placement officer at the University of Bath, nominated David for the award.
Steve said: “I was very impressed with the commitment David showed to his work at AstraZeneca. Placements are a fantastic way for our students to obtain industry experience and apply the skills they learn during their degree studies. Placement research also gives a number of our students the opportunity to publish a research paper.
“During his time at AstraZeneca, David was involved in four research papers and has a fifth on the way, a remarkable number for an undergraduate student. His research has had a great impact in the Medicinal Chemistry Department at AstraZeneca Charnwood, and all those who have worked with him have been very impressed by his achievements.”
Bryan Roberts, Senior Research Chemist at AstraZeneca, who supervised David during his placement said: “David was very enthusiastic and motivated from day one and this has been contagious amongst the research team. He is clearly one of the best students we have had and this is reflected by his level of achievement during his time with us.
“David displays all the key attributes required in conducting successful research and we really hope that he will decide to pursue a scientific career either in academia or industry.”
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Bath is recognised for offering strong placement opportunities. David’s tutor Mike Hill said: “Our placement scheme is one of the most wide-ranging and long standing schemes in the country. In any one year we send over 60 students on placements and each student is assessed, with the results forming a component of the student’s final degree.
“I am a Bath Chemistry alumnus myself and my placement was one of the most worthwhile and significant experiences of my life. I think the same holds for the majority of our current graduates, David included.”
David added: “I am thrilled to have won the award for Placement Student of the Year – I chose my degree course based on the reputation of the placement opportunities and feel that spending a year in industry was hugely beneficial to me. I now plan to continue my studies and will begin a PhD next autumn.”
RateMyPlacement.co.uk specialises in the growing demand for work experience amongst undergraduates, universities and employers. It applies first hand knowledge and experience of the student placement and internship process to identify and understand the needs of students and placement providers.